Northeastern Katë is a
dialect
A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...
of the
Katë language spoken by the
Kata
''Kata'' is a Japanese word ( 型 or 形) meaning "form". It refers to a detailed choreographed pattern of martial arts movements. It can also be reviewed within groups and in unison when training. It is practiced in Japanese martial arts ...
in parts of
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
and
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
. It also includes the so-called ''Shekhani'' dialect spoken in
Chitral district of
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
There are several subdialects spoken in the upper
Landai Sin Valley. It is also spoken in
Chitral District, in
Gobor and the upper
Bumboret Valley in
Pakistan
Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
.
Innovations
According to Halfmann (2024), the primary innovations of the Northeastern dialect include secondary vowel length from monophthongization of vowel + ''v'' and a progressive suffix ''-t-''.
Orthography
In August 2022, Pakistani linguist, Rehmat Aziz Chitrali proposed a keyboard to
Khowar Academy, Chitral.
History
Speakers of Eastern Katë dialects migrated from
Kamdesh in
Nuristan
Nuristan, also spelled as Nurestan or Nooristan (Pashto: ; Katë: ), is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. It is divided into seven districts and is Afghanistan's least populous province, with a ...
in modern-day
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
to
Lutkuh Valley in
Chitrali Princely State in
British Raj
The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent,
*
* lasting from 1858 to 1947.
*
* It is also called Crown rule ...
during the 19th century. Most speakers in Pakistan speak either
Pashto
Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...
or Khowar as a second language. Many native speakers often marry the minority
Pashtuns
Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghan (ethnon ...
in the area.
Phonology
Consonants
* Sounds /ʒ ɽ ɣ/ occur from neighboring languages. /f x/ are borrowed from loanwords mainly from Khowar or
Yidgha.
*/ʈ/ can also be heard as an allophone
�
*
is heard as an allophone of /i/.
* /v/ can also be heard as bilabial
�or a labial approximant
Vowels
* Mid /ə/ can be heard as a close central
�
Vocabulary
Pronouns
Numbers
# ''e'', ''ev''
# ''dyu''
# ''tëre''
# ''štëvó''
# ''puč''
# ''ṣu''
# ''sut''
# ''uṣṭ''
# ''nu''
# ''duċ''
# ''yaníċ''
# ''diċ''
# ''tëríċ''
# ''šturéċ''
# ''pčiċ''
# ''ṣeċ''
# ''stiċ''
# ''ṣṭiċ''
# ''neċ''
# ''vëċë́''
Further reading
*
References
*
*
*
*
External links
*
*
*
*
*
{{Languages of Pakistan
Nuristani languages of Afghanistan
Languages of Afghanistan
Languages of Lower Chitral District
Nuristani languages